A young Minneapolis couple's preoccupation with food, drinks, culture, and drinks.

Tag Archives: Bon Appetit

Well, this post has been a long time coming. Honestly, it has nothing to do with our lackadaisical approach to cooking or the fact that we haven’t been to any new restaurants recently; neither are true. In the last week alone we’ve recreated Willie Mae’s famous deep-fried chicken recipe, made home-made hot sauce, braised fennel, and created an entire bunch of dishes that were worthy of at least a few minutes of our writing.

But beyond anything we made this last week, we had quite possibly the most FUN meal we’ve had at least since our first to Piccolo and possibly exceeding it. Travail in Robbinsdale has recently been named to Bon Appetite’s “Top 10 Best New Restaurants in the Country,” and in all fairness I wouldn’t have pushed to go to this restaurant without such a strong recommendation from a noted publication. For God’s sake, my dad read that magazine when I was kid! How could I not at least heed some attention to them?

Regardless of how we found out about Travail, the fact remains: if you haven’t been there, you need to be. Furthermore, if your idea of a good meal is going to Applebee’s and getting their “spinach artichoke dip” is your definition of a small-plate, then you probably won’t be too interested in what Travail has to offer. If, however, your idea of a great meal is 10 courses, punctuated with FREE amuse-bouche, then you need to go to Robbinsdale and park in front of the TCF Bank or in the McDonald’s lot and walk up to what is arguably the most enjoyable food experience in Minnesota.

I have had better meals,I have had more romantic meals, I have had meals of equal length with better taste. But nowhere in this state have I had a meal with such a strong ability to create a myriad of delicious, exciting dishes.